The Eternal Chimera – Chapter 10
First of all thanks to everyone that reviewed the previous chapter when asked, I was actually surprised to get that many. I got a great deal of information from those reviews.
Secondly sorry for not updating in so long; I recently bought a laptop which means that I can now write while on my 2 hr bus trip to uni each day (as well as on the way back).
In any case, it's time to get back to the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
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Life was incredibly dull, she had decided. Sure her studies under Megumi were interesting, but when she wasn't studying she really had nothing to do. With Naruto and all of his friends competing in the chuunin exams there wasn't any one that she could hang around with. She had found some solace in hanging around the ramen stand that Naruto frequented talking to the sand owner's daughter Ayame. Eventually even that lost its lustre as she increasingly found herself feeling like a third wheel, something completely out of place in the restaurant.
For those exact reasons we find Haku wandering about aimlessly in Konoha. She had finished her studies for the day under Megumi and was now free for the afternoon. She eventually found herself on top of the Yondaime's head atop the Hokage Monument.
"Haku-san?" a voice called out behind her, startling her somewhat.
She turned to see the owner of the voice, but it was unnecessary, she was already wearing a smile at merely recognising his voice.
'Naruto-kun.'
"It's good to see you again, how have the chuunin exams been going?" She asked.
"Great! Me, Sasuke, Hinata, Shikamaru and Shino all made it into the final round!"
"That's quite an achievement, congratulations! Tell me all about it." Haku replied, genuinely interested and grateful to have someone to talk to.
Naruto regaled his exams experience so far, leaving out one of two minor details, such as Orochimaru's interference as well as the curse marks that both he and Sasuke had received.
"So what from here?" Haku asked realising that Naruto had the final exams coming up within a month.
"Nii-chan is going to train Sasuke while Ero-sennin trains me for the month."
"Ero-sennin?"
"Oh...right, Jiraiya of the sannin." He explained while rubbing the back of his head.
"Only you would call one of the most powerful ninja in the world by such a name." She ribbed playfully.
"Seriously, all he ever does is perve on bathing women so that he can write his Icha Icha series." Naruto fumed.
"Wait? You mean that orange book that Za...Taro reads? That would make a perfect gift...a signed copy."
"You're kidding, right? He doesn't actually read that, does he?" Naruto dead panned. "That aside, it was good to see you. I'm going to go pay Sakura a visit. Then I'm going to start my training with that perverted sage tomorrow."
"I'll come with you." Haku offered.
"No, it's alright, I'll go alone."
Before Haku could reply Naruto was gone, heading for the hospital.
Haku was disappointed that her time with the blond had been cut short, but then she remembered a titbit of information that he had once given her.
"I come up here when I want to think and when I want to be alone." Remembering this she realised that he had most probably come up to the point to clear his head and that plan had been shot to the ground when he found her there. All things considered she couldn't be too annoyed with his brusqueness.
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Naruto walked into a room in the hospital to see a bed bound Sakura with Sasuke by her side.
"How are you feeling? Sorry stupid question." Naruto quickly retracted the remark and started again.
"It's alright, and I've been better." Sakura responded, showing that she wasn't offended.
'I wonder...Rei-chan, do you think my blood would be able to help?'
'Not likely, Naruto. The way your mother described the trait in her scroll it made it sound as though t was for open wounds or for poisons. I suspect that if this ever happened to phoenix then they would just kill themselves and when their body was reincarnated it would be whole again, as with your decapitation. Besides, you would have to freak Sakura out buy either getting her to drink your blood or else force yourself to cry. The third water source isn't an option.'
'Point taken. So that's out.'
Naruto was broken out of his mental conversation be Sakura's soft, almost reverent voice.
"Naruto, Sasuke; I want you to promise me something. If you to fight Neji ...don't do anything you'll regret. Don't kill him" Sakura asked her voice so soft it almost sounded as though she was pleading with the pair."
"I'll go as far as necessary." Naruto responded slowly, Sasuke giving one slow nod in agreement.
Sasuke turned to Naruto.
"I think now is as good a time as any for you to make good on your promise." Sasuke said as directly as he could.
"What?" Naruto asked, thrown for loop.
"You said that you would tell us about why the villagers hate you so much at the conclusion of the second exam." Sasuke reminded, not bothering to beat around the bush.
"Is now really the best time?" Naruto asked, looking at Sakura.
"No, this can't be put off any longer." Sakura urged.
Naruto looked back and forth between the two before resigning to tell them.
"Before I tell you this, you must know one thing. What I'm about to tell you is an S ranked secret. Mentioning this aloud is an instant death sentence within this village."
Sakura gasped while Sasuke went wide eyed.
"Now, what do you know about the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked, knowing full well what response he would get back.
"It was killed by Yondaime-sama just over 12 years ago. He sacrificed his life to save the village." Sakura replied automatically; it was ingrain knowledge.
"That's not entirely true. The Yondaime did defeat it, but the Kyuubi could never be killed. Instead he went for the next best option and sealed it within the only thing that could contain it; a new born baby."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed when he heard the conclusion.
"You mean to say that the new born baby was you?" Sasuke asked, though it was not really necessary.
"Shikamaru was right!" Sakura suddenly announced.
"What?" Naruto asked sharply.
"When you were away, Shikamaru was thinking out loud and said it was really strange how the villagers treated you; the hate you received was far too great to be a result of all your pranks over the years."
"Then I guess I'm gonna have to have a word with him." Naruto said grudgingly, preferring to keep the secret between as few people as possible.
"So, you guys aren't scared? You don't care that I have a demon sealed within me?" Naruto asked almost perplexed that they were having a similar reaction to Haku.
"Anyone who knows you well enough would be an idiot to call you a demon because you contain one. Besides, if I sealed a weapon in my arm, then I don't become the weapon; the same way you don't become a vicious demon if you have one in you." Sasuke assured.
'I take offense to that!' Rei's voice chimed in Naruto's head, with Naruto chuckling outwardly.
She's not all that bad. In fact Rei-chan is very nice when you get to know her." The other two were silent for a moment before something clicked for Sakura.
"Rei-chan? Not your civilian friend?" Sakura said with sudden realisation.
"Yep! The same!" Naruto replied as both Sakura and Sasuke paled slightly.
"So who else knows?" Sakura asked.
"You two, Haku and everybody about five or so years older than us."
"You told her before us?"
"The situation was different." Naruto said it with such finality that even if Sakura had cared to ask, she didn't think that she'd get a response.
"In any case, you two need to get home, rest up and start training for the finals." Sakura directed at both boys. "And make sure that you remember your promise to me." She called to their retreating backs.
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"RRIIIIISSSSE AND SHINE!" A voice broke through Naruto's dreams waking him up. A quick look at his alarm clock told him that it was 4 am.
Recognising the masculine voice belonging to Jiraiya, Naruto responded accordingly.
"Dammit! What in the hell are you doing there this early?"
"Starting your training! What else?" Jiraiya exclaimed. "You have a half an hour to get ready and eat, I want you at the ravine by training ground 37 by four thirty."
Grumbling, Naruto set to getting ready and a half an hour later he was at the designated location.
"What are we doing here?"
"Use the most powerful summon you have." Jiraiya demanded without explanation, following a calculating look from Naruto. "Hurry up and get to it!"
"Alright, alright already. Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Naruto replied before complying with the demand.
A large phoenix appeared with several black plumes in its crest before Naruto apologised for summoning him without just cause only to be dismissed a moment later.
"Right, your still there. I want you to try using Rei's chakra." Jiraiya said, finally giving a reason for at least one thing that he said.
"But I don't..."
I'm aware you don't like using her chakra, but if the time were to come, you have to know whether it would be possible or not."
'Naruto-kun, he's right. There may be a time when you will need my chakra to do this.'
'Fine.' Naruto ceded. Focussing internally for a minute, Naruto started to develop a slight red tinge around him before quickly flashing through seals.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu."
For the first time Naruto had summoned something larger than the phoenix he had summoned with his trip to find Hiko. This phoenix was immense, being at least as tall a Gamabunta the toad boss was. The truly spectacular sight was when the phoenix stretched out its wings, the wingspan being as great as the Snake boss, Manda, was long. The phoenix was mostly black with a mosaic of gold and red feathers across its body, glimmering in the light and giving the impression of being on fire.
"So this is the new summoner that Shinme spoke of, Naruto was it? Well, allow me to introduce myself; I am Tobifushicho, boss of the Phoenixes."
"Tobifushicho-sama, it is an honour to be in your presence."
"It is good to finally meet you in person Naruto. Is there anything you require of me?"
"No, boss. My apologies for disturbing you unnecessarily."
"Think nothing of it. And remember, when you need us, the phoenixes will always come to your aid" Tobifushicho said before dispelling in a massive plume of smoke.
"No, boss. My apologies for disturbing you unnecessarily." Jiraiya mimicked in a high voice, imitating Naruto. "Why don't you show me that much respect?"
"Because you don't deserve it." Naruto replied, Jiraiya sporting a look of mock hurt on his face.
"Now what?" Naruto asked.
"With that out of the way, you are at my mercy." Jiraiya said as his face became a lot more stern.
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The training Jiraiya made Naruto was harsh. If Naruto had thought that any of his genin sensei were harsh, then Jiraiya was on a whole other level in his training techniques.
"Dammit. You really don't pull your punches do you?" Naruto grizzled.
"Why bother? Your enemies never will." Jiraiya had reasoned as they both got ready for another bout of taijutsu.
In reality Jiraiya really was pulling his punches. If he really wanted to beat up on the kid he would have. He was just fighting at a level slightly above Naruto each time. What Naruto failed to realise was that Jiraiya was constantly having to raise the level he was fighting at. The improvements were small but rapid.
Each morning was the same routine. Jiraiya would work on Naruto's physical capabilities. Naruto often mentioned that he would like to learn a new jutsu, but the sage had refused telling him that his opponent would not give him time to even get through the hand seals.
The first week of training went by without much event, almost boring Naruto to tears with repetition, he only thing that changed regularly was that Naruto was made by Jiraiya to pump chakra into his arm and leg bracers making them far heavier. It was only until Jiraiya was satisfied with Naruto's improvement with speed, power and fluidity in his taijutsu that he decided to move onto other areas.
The next area that they moved onto was chakra control. The mere memory of those hellish days was enough to make Naruto shiver.
FLASHBACK
Naruto had arrived at the usual place to see two people standing there waiting for him.
"Anko-sensei? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, not entirely sure what to expect.
"Helping you…train. What else Gaki?" Naruto really didn't like the way she made the word 'train' hang, nor did he like the lingering smirk on her face when she said the word.
"Senai jyashu!" Before Naruto could do anything he was tied up in Anko's snakes.
"Now before you ask I got Anko do this so you couldn't run. Your chakra training involves Anko peppering you body with senbon, then you have to push those senbon out using your chakra. The catch is you can't just blow them all out, you have to do it at a certain rate."
"Rate?"
"Yep, for example you can't have any of the senbon fall out before say 5 seconds. This will force you to continuously use chakra in small amount, and focus your control."
And so it started. The first time Naruto tried all three senbon blasted out of his body with such force that Jiraiya had to use doryuheki to protect Anko and himself.
The second try was marginally better. By the end of the day Naruto was pushing all of the senbon out at the 20 second mark. He thought he'd get a break when he ran out of chakra or when they ran out of senbon, but he was sorely mistaken as they came prepared for both possibilities with soldier pill and multiple sealing scrolls with senbon sealed in them.
Each day Jiraiya added a new layer to the task. Day two required Naruto to push the senbon out of one part of the body, but not from others. Day three involved pushing out senbon from different parts of his body at different rates. Days four through to eight were simply a repeat of day three; Jiraiya had insisted that he made sure that he got the thing down. Naruto insisted that it was because both Jiraiya and Anko used his pain as a sadistic form of pleasure. Anko insisted that…well Anko didn't deny Naruto's accusation, but she did get a certain gleam in her eye as she threw each senbon.
After his last evening of chakra control training Naruto sat at his usual stall at the Ichiraku's when he happened to look over to another stall to see none other than Yugito Nii and her student Hisa Haiboruto dining as well.
"Naruto Uzumaki, if I'm not mistaken?" She directed at him after noticing his interest.
"I…er…" Naruto struggled to find something to say after he realised that he'd been staring.
"Care to join us?" Hisa offered.
"Thanks." Naruto said, momentarily stunned by the offer.
They trio started chatting about nothing in particular until Yugito told her student to run and grab some drinks for them.
Naruto took the break in conversation to ask Yugito something that had been plaguing his thoughts since he first saw the Kumo jounin.
"Yugito-san, can I ask you a very personal question?" Naruto had to be very delicate about how he did this; he sat quietly as Yugito looked at him cautiously before nodding consent.
"I have a sort of...sense. It doesn't allow me any great insight really. The thing is I can feel different forms of life. When I sit with you I feel something different to normal." Naruto looked as though he was thinking hard about what he was saying, something evident to Yugito so she decided to her him out.
"It's just different not bad." Naruto tried to clarify. "In truth I actually only realised this sense a few weeks ago and I'm trying to learn all I can. I was wondering if you knew what it was that makes you feel different to the rest."
Yugito looked at the boy, wondering how to help him, or indeed whether she should.
"If I told you outright I would be breaking a village secret. The best that I can do is to tell you my title but not what it means. I am what's known as a jinchuuriki."
Naruto's eyes widened before he quickly whispered something to Yugito.
"One with the power of a bijuu sealed within them." Now it was Yugito's turn to be surprised.
"How in hell does a genin know about that off the top of their head?" She whispered back dangerously. She had to be cautious, if he really wasn't who he seemed then she could be in a lot of trouble.
The atmosphere of the room had changed drastically, it was enough for the civilians to notice; Naruto figured he had to do something.
He made a placating move to calm Yugito down before jumping up onto his seat and yelling his head off.
"OH YEAH? WELL IT TAKES ONE TO KNOWN ONE!" Naruto yelled in as childish a voice he could muster.
He sat down again huffing and puffing for show but Yugito realised the message in the outburst.
"Nibi." The single word was all Naruto needed to understand.
"Kyuubi." Naruto responded. A look of surprise crossed Yugito's face.
"What was all that about?" Hisa had returned to the table with the drinks.
"Your sensei called me a stupid blonde." Naruto replied easily, making it look as though lying was second nature to him.
"Well if you're stupid enough to ask me such a personal question then it's a fitting title. Imagine asking a lady her age." What did you need to know for, to see whether I was young enough for you? Or whether it was old enough?" Yugito continued with the lie while enjoying the flushed look on Naruto's face as he worked out what she was implying.
After the drinks were finished Yugito suggested that it was time to retire for the night for all parties involved. They went their separate ways for the evening after Naruto said his good nights Hisa and Yugito saying good bye to Naruto's already retreating figure; his raised hand in recognition of the farewell.
FLASHBACK END
We find Naruto with Jiraiya, training his chakra control again, they had moved to mixed sessions, involving taijutsu and physical training for the first half and chakra control for the second half. Jiraiya had noticed that Naruto's form was off in the sparring, but it was even more evident in the chakra control exercises. Naruto was almost back to square one; blasting the senbon out of his body.
"That's it! Stop right there!" Naruto gave his sensei an empty look before Jiraiya continued.
"Your head is nowhere near where it needs to be. What the hell is on your mind to lose focus this badly?" Naruto remained silent for a moment before answering.
"Did you know that there are others like me?" Naruto asked hollowly. Jiraiya was actually caught off guard by his question. Of course he knew what the boy was referring to, but he didn't ever expect the words to come from his mouth.
"Yes. I knew." Jiraiya answered heavily.
"Do you think that we all live the same sort of life? All hated but the general population." Jiraiya was wondering where the boy was going with this conversation but answered anyway.
"No, I don't think that is the case. Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering what would have happened if Nii-chan and everybody else hadn't provided me with their love and friendship. Would I have become like Gaara. And if there is anybody out there at risk of being like Gaara, I would want to help them, no matter the cost." Naruto said pensively.
"Good reasons. My advice would be to speak to Yugito-san about her past. And for now to train; if you aren't strong enough then good intentions aren't enough to what is needed is the strength to defend what you hold precious."
Naruto looked at Jiraiya as though he was seeing light for the first time. He never knew that the man could provide such good advice.
"Yes, Jiraiya-sensei." Jiraiya was actually taken aback to hear that again, the first time in nearly 15 years.
"What's with 'Jiraiya-sensei'?" Jiraiya asked.
"I always said that I show respect to those who deserve it. You have always had my respect, but certain other activities detracted from that. And I really do appreciate you training me like this." It was an answer that surprised Jiraiya, but he had noticed that Naruto seemed to be more focused now, so they returned to their training.
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While Naruto was training intensely with Jiraiya, his friends were also being pushed to their limits by their own sensei. Sasuke was being pushed to beyond his breaking point by Kakashi; it was a mere miracle that the boy's body simply hadn't shutdown after such punishment. Lee was put through one brutal training regimen after another by Gai. While Gai tried not to play favourites and help Neji, the boy turned away help from his sensei; Tenten had yet to even remain within earshot of the boy after his outburst at Sakura through the preliminaries. Shikamaru and Shino were training with their clans, leaving Asuma free to help Kurenai with Hinata's training (as neither Ino nor Chouji made it through).
Out of all the genin Hinata seemed to be pushing herself the hardest. It was recognised that next to Sasuke, she had the most dangerous opponent, made all the more deadly by Neji's open hatred of the Hyuuga main branch. It was a week till the final day and Hinata was still desperately looking for a way to neutralise Neji's kaiten.
She had decided to go to the ramen stand that Naruto claimed had the best noodle and broth mixture in the world. This is how Naruto found Hinata when he walked into the stand to find the indigo haired girl sitting on what happened to be his usual seat.
"Hinata? What are you doing here?"
"Taking a break from training for an evening." Hinata said, some of her frustrations becoming evident in her voice.
"Care to share? Or is that a secret strategy for the exams?" Naruto asked, hoping that he could take a load off her mind.
"No, it's nothing secret. I'm just starting to question whether or not I can beat Neji." Hinata sighed.
"Hinata, you're not the same girl you were all those years ago. You can do this." Naruto tried to assure her.
"This is nothing to do with who I am. It's simply an admission that there is a very strong chance that I will lose to Neji, I will try to beat him, but it's as though the gap in our skills is too large for me to make up in a month." Hinata replied.
"Hinata, what is your goal in life?" While it was worded as a question it was meant more as a reminder as every one of Hinata's friends knew what her goal was.
"To unite the main and branch houses of the Hyuuga clan." Hinata responded.
"Neji believes that everything is dictated by fate. You know he believes that you are fated to lose against him. Prove him wrong. Open his eyes."
"I know and I want to. It's just I don't think I can."
"You, out of any of the rookies, have the best chance of doing it. Did you know that?" Naruto told her, making her look at him in disbelief.
"But Sasuke and you are so much stro..."
"Every technique has a prerequisite. It was something that Aniki taught me. Jutsu require had signs and chakra, other techniques require timing or precision. You know the Jyuuken as well as Neji does. That means that if you can take a requirement away from him, then he can't perform his techniques, even if it's a single technique. Just make sure it isn't something that he can use against you." Naruto said to her, giving her a hard look, urging her not to give up hope with his eyes.
Hinata straight ahead, digesting what he had said. Nothing more was said between them as they ate their ramen; they said their goodbyes and parted ways before getting ready for a new day of training.
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The next day Naruto arrived at the usual training ground to find Asuma there instead of Jiraiya.
"Asuma-sensei? What's going on?"
"Jiraiya had an errand to run, so I've got you for the day. We are going to spar all day to day till you drop from exhaustion." Naruto simply smiled and got ready.
By the end of the day Naruto wasn't tired, but he was extremely sore, his only relief was that his phoenix blood was taking care of it rather quickly; Asuma hadn't earned his status for nothing. Asuma, on the other hand was about ready to drop from exhaustion; it was simply staggering how much stamina the blond genin had.
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The final week was spent with Jiraiya learning a new jutsu. It came as a surprise to Naruto that Jiraiya was actually going to work on something other than taijutsu and chakra control.
"There are two that I'm gonna be working on. The first it the kage kunai and the other, if you master the first, is yomi numa."
The kage kunai was mastered by Naruto in an hour, it was hardly surprising, and after all, if the kid could master kage bunshin and bunshin daibakuha, then kage kunai should prove to be no harder. Yomi numa, on the other hand did prove to be more difficult as Naruto had discovered. It wasn't simply about performing the hand signs and performing the jutsu. No matter how many times he tried, the ground seemed to completely liquefy when he used the jutsu, rather than having the consistency of a swamp and sucking the opponent down to the bottom.
It took Naruto several days to work out that if he was to use more chakra then he had to spread it out over a larger area, the higher the chakra concentration in the soil, the more liquidised it became. With this worked out he performed the jutsu again, this time spreading the same chakra out over a large area. The result was to have a swamp more that 800 meters across form, though it was still fairly watery, meaning that Naruto had to spread his chakra out further or to reduce the total amount of chakra he was using. Jiraiya recommended a little of both.
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The night before the final examination Naruto was out late after a long day of training. Normally a sensei would rest their genin before such a large event, rather than exerting them so strenuously, but Jiraiya had recognised that it would make little difference to Naruto, so he worked the boy to the bone until the end, almost literally in some cases.
Naruto was headed to his favourite haunt when he happened across Yugito Nii.
"Yugito-san." Naruto greeted with a small wave.
"Naruto-san" The Kumo jounin returned with a small nod of acknowledgement.
"Yugito-san, I've been meaning to talk to you. Would you care to join me for some ramen? My treat."
"I'll join you, but you don't need to pay for me. That seems way too close to a date. Or is that what you want Naruto-san?" Yugito teased. She knew she really shouldn't, but it was just so amusing seeing the poor genin get worked up like this.
"Naruto-san, it's fine. Let's go." Yugito said to a gobbed smacked and spluttering Naruto.
Within a minute they were comfortably seated in Ichiraku's, the same place they were when Hisa was with them.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to know what kind of life you had growing up."
"Interesting question. What specifically did you want to know about my life?" Yugito looked thoughtful as she tried to understand where he was coming from.
"I wanted to know whether you were happy. Whether there were people that hated you. Did you have people that helped you and accepted you, knowing your secret?" Yugito contemplated the question for a moment before responding.
"I've never really given it much thought, but I suppose I had a good childhood. I'm sure there were people that did hate me, but I was never subjected to them. And yes, there were lots that helped. My situation is no secret. It is known to the general population, so they can accept me as I am, or hate me and avoid me."
As Yugito collected her thoughts, Naruto asked another question.
"Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you didn't have that in your life?"
"Never, I've never had a reason to. But apparently you have. I'm going to guess that it was recent."
"Gaara. I often wonder if I could have turned out like that."
'Naruto-kun I'm so sorry.' Rei sounded almost heartbroken.
'Rei-chan, never apologise for that. I promise you on my soul, that Madara Uchiha will pay for trying to control you.' Naruto waved her apology aside; he could never hold Rei accountable for actions that she was never in control of.
"Naruto?!" Yugito called Naruto out of his thoughts. "You zoned there."
Naruto looked at Yugito with a new purpose.
"Do you have a free moment?" Yugito nodded, Naruto scarfed the last of his ramen, before motioning for Yugito to leave with him.
A short while later they arrived at one of the remote training grounds before Naruto turned to Yugito.
"Are you on good terms with your bijuu?" Yugito almost fell over at the question but, managed to simply nod in response.
"What I am going to show you stays strictly between us." Naruto waited for her to agree before showing her what he was going to do.
'Naruto-kun, what are you...' Rei never got to finish as Naruto announced his jutsu.
"Kage bunshin!" For the first time in a very long while, Rei was out in the open.
"Yugito-san, this is Rei. Or as most people know her, Kyuubi no Kitsune."
"It's a pleasure Yugito-san." Yugito actually did fall this time; straight onto her backside. What this boy had done was inconceivable.
After an explanation of the mechanics behind the technique, Yugito was ready to try the technique herself.
"Kage bunshin." Before them stood a woman with flowing purple hair, wearing a midnight blue kimono with a sliver cat embroidered just above the hem at the bottom left of the kimono.
She was looking directly at Naruto before kneeling on the ground and bowing to him.
"Naruto-sama, Kyuubi-dono, I am eternally grateful. I am forever indebted to you."
"Must you really stand on ceremony all the time, Shisei?"
"This is too large a gift not to stand on ceremony. I will never be able to repay this." The purple haired woman countered.
"Repayment? If you really want to repay me, then friendship would be nice."
"Friendship, Naruto-sama? I think I can do that." The purple haired woman replied before looking at her jinchuuriki for confirmation, who simply nodded in agreement.
"Good, first things first. My friends don't call me Naruto-sama, it's just Naruto, and they don't bow to me either. Friends are equals."
"Shisei?" Yugito asked the only thing that she though she could handle knowing for evening.
"My name is Shisei Kouyuu; Nibi no Nekomata is simply a title or rank, like kage." Shisei explained, Yugito nodding in understanding.
All four took a seat on the damp grass and talked for a while longer, not about anything in particular, but just chatted as friends would do as they tried to pass away an afternoon. It wasn't until much later the Yugito pointed out that Naruto should get going as he had to rest up for the afternoon.
"Naruto, I want to thank you. Nib...Shisei has always wanted to get out of that cage she has been in for more than twenty years. She never tried to take control of my body and has always been there for me, she was merely imprisoned in me to give the village more power."
"Think nothing of it." Naruto tried to brush away as he slowly grew more embarrassed from the thanks.
"No...this is important to me. To the both of us, so thank you." Before she left she said one thing to Naruto over her shoulder, "You know, after getting to know you, I think that if I could have a little brother, then I would have wanted him to be exactly like you."
Naruto was on the verge of tearing up as she left the training grounds.
"First an older brother, now an older sister." Naruto said aloud, mostly to himself.
''And a grandfather too, Naruto-kun. You can't forget Sarutobi."
"That old man isn't off the hook y..."
"Then consider letting him off the hook already.' Rei cut him off, exasperated, "What if he were to die tomorrow? Could you live the rest of your life hating the fact that you forgave him too late and he never knew?"
"What he did, it was beyond reasoning." Naruto hissed back
"No, it wasn't." Rei countered simply, "His reasoning was flawed, but he was still trying to do what he thought was best for you and the village. I'm not telling you what to do...but just consider it." Naruto didn't respond immediately.
"It's getting late and I really should get some rest." It was his way of ending the conversation and providing him a reason to not think about what they had just discussed.
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It was the day of the final exams; all contestants were standing before a filled-to-capacity chuunin exams stadium. Genma Shiranui was before all the competitors explaining the proceedings to them.
"Your first match will be a one on one with the opponent that was determined at the end of the preliminary round, with exception to Hisa-san, Shino-san and Kankuro-san of course. The victors will then go on to a round robin tournament. The person with the most victories at the end of the round robin will be the winner of the tournament." Genma surveyed the chuunin aspirators before continuing.
"Remember, the person that wins does not necessarily become a chuunin. Similarly, the person that has to bow out in the first round can still advance in rank. It will hinge on your abilities to show the qualities required of a chuunin." After his address to the genin he turned his attention to the Hokage so he could address the crowd and the genin.
"To our esteemed visitors, I welcome you to the final examination. Citizens of the elemental nations I compel you; cheer for your competitors, provide them with a tangible atmosphere of excitement and anticipation. Competitors, good luck! Fight well, do your country, your sensei and yourself proud." The crowd received the address with a wild cheer as Sarutobi sat between the Kazekage and the Raikage.
"Well now that we are clear can start. All competitors but Hinata and Neji please clear the field."
Once the competitors were clear Neji and Hinata turned to face each other.
"Well, isn't this fitting? The Hyuuga failure about to be disgraced in front of half of Konoha's population by none other than a branch member." Neji taunted, trying to get under Hinata's skin.
"For one with the Byakugan, you certainly are blind Nii-san. I will open your eyes. And while I'm at it I'm going to make you regret your actions towards Sakura." Hinata responded coolly.
"My eyes see perfectly. You are fated to lose this match, just as Hanabi-sama is destined to be the clan head." Neji retorted.
It seemed that the exchange had come to an end as both settled into a jyuuken stance.
"BEGIN!!" Genma roared for the benefit of the crowd.
Seeing that both were willing to sit and wait till the other had moved, Neji moved in first. He struck out at Hinata's shoulder only to have her twist her body and strike out at a tenketsu on the offending arm. He parried blow with enough force put Hinata of balance, Hinata was far more nimble than he had expected and rotated with the parry and swept low at his legs, forcing him to jump over. During that brief moment that he was airborne Hinata sent a hand at Neji's shoulder, hoping to disable his right arm
Neji realised that he was in no position to avoid or parry the strike, meaning that he only had two options left; block or get hit. He caught her left hand with his own left hand. Simultaneously both Hyuuga forced a small amount of chakra into their opponent's arms on the underside of the wrist; causing both the left hand on each person to crumple.
"A stalemate." Hiashi observed, his younger daughter simply observing the match. She had been instructed to watch Neji very closely, but it seemed that her elder sister was also worthy of consideration.
Both combatants had separated from each other, readying them for another bout; both having an impaired used of their left hand.
"You are holding your own...for now." Neji said to Hinata. "Quit now if you don't want to be totally disgraced." He finished.
"I won't quit until I've completed what I set out to do." Hinata replied never losing sight of either her opponent or her goal.
This time it was Hinata's turn to rush in and start the offense, as soon as she was within range Neji changed his stance and started spinning while pushing chakra out all of his tenketsu.
"Kaiten." He announced. Hinata saw the trouble she was in and did the only thing that she could to salvage the situation.
"Kaiten!" She called, matching her cousin's move.
Both chakra domes expanded from their creators. They were positioned close enough for part of their opponents dome to be within their own; the result was for the incompatible chakras to repel from each other in spectacular fashion, blowing both competitors in opposite directions. Due to their position in the field Hinata was sent flying and bounced off the ground before coming to a stop after rolling across the ground. Neji on the other hand was far closer to the wall behind him that Hinata was and before he could even land on the ground he hit into the stadium wall at full force.
Both Hyuuga struggled to regain their feet after the recovering from the staggering amount of force that had sent them flying. Neji was a little slower to get to his feet, but it made no difference as he was already rushing in to meet Hinata's advance. Hinata was hoping that she could catch Neji while he was still recovering, she knew that with him so close to the wall he wouldn't risk the same move that had blasted them apart or he would endure a far more vicious hit than before.
Neji's right hand lashed out Hinata's left shoulder, only for her to dodge again. While she was contorted out of her usual stance, Neji aimed for her right leg with the other hand, hoping that she wouldn't be able to move it out of the way in time, however she surprised him when she rotated around fully and tried to lodge an elbow in his ribs. Neji was forced to cancel his motion and try to dodge. He evaded successfully, but Hinata made a follow up strike. This time instead of parrying sideways, he directed her straight down, what he didn't expect was for her to go along with it.
Hinata was now in a hand stand, switching from hand to hand a she performed rotating helicopter kicks, all of which were avoided by Neji. He got inside her kicks and aimed a low sweep at her supporting hands, but she saw the motion coming, pumping a bit of chakra into her arms for extra strength she pushed off the ground and vaulted back onto her feet. As soon as she had rectified her body position she charged her entire hand with chakra, not to close any tenketsu, but to blast Neji away. Neji saw the move coming and made to match it. Both hands connected to the opponent at the same time, giving a similar result as the dual kaiten, the opponents being launched away from each other, though both also managed to maintain their footing this time around.
The combatants were panting from exertion. This would likely be the final round. All were expecting one final bout of high level taijutsu so when Hinata withdrew eight shuriken from her pouches and slotted them between the fingers on both hands a few raised eyebrows in surprise.
"A pointless move. The kaiten will render such a tactic useless." Hiashi surmised.
"It looks as though Hinata has run out of ideas if she is resorting to such a common tactic. Neji has won the match."
"You are within my field of divination." Neji announced to Hinata.
Seeing that Hinata made no move to change the situation, Neji took it as a sign of resignation. He rushed in, ready to complete his technique.
He had played right into Hinata's hand, though he didn't know it yet. Just when Neji was upon her she loosed the shuriken in her hands. Neji couldn't dodge all of them properly he did what he saw as his only option, not as though it was going to change anything.
"Kaiten!" He started his ultimate defensive technique; again he had played right into Hinata's hand. Hinata swiftly went through five hand seals before announcing her jutsu.
"Ryo kenchigai no jutsu!" She was concentrating hard, the ground under Neji's feet cracked, making him loose his footing as he was in the middle of his kaiten. Neji's feet sank into the small fissure around him, suddenly just as soon as the fissure had appeared; Hinata had closed it with Neji's feet still stuck in it.
Neji still had his momentum from his kaiten, unfortunately for him his feet could not turn with the rest of his body as it was trapped in the ground as a result of Hinata's jutsu; then suddenly there was as sickening crack that echoed around the field followed by a harsh scream of pain. Neji's body had rotated further than what his ankles could bear, so his ankles broke.
"You...you...I will..."
"You can do nothing Neji, you are beaten. It would be a simple matter to kill you like this."
"Then why don't you?" Neji snarled.
"My goal today was to open your eyes, not shut them permanently." Hinata replied in a level voice.
"It would be welcome to escape this life."
"You could just as easily end your life yourself, but then that would prove that fate doesn't exist, because you chose yourself when and how you would die." Hinata informed.
"You wish for me to kill myself?" Neji replied, the tone he used seemed to imply that he almost seemed willing.
"No, you said that I was fated to lose this match, I have proved you wrong."
"Must you mock me still?" Neji demanded.
"Hear me out."
"What? What could you say that could possibly say that would interest me?" Neji was almost livid at having to be put through this in public.
"You said that Hanabi was fated to become clan head. You believe that you are fated to bear the seal that you hate so much for the rest of your life. Help me change my fate, help me become clan head, and I will help change yours, and that of any other branch member, including your children." Hinata concluded.
"What?" Neji for the first time ever, was dumbfounded.
"I swear on my own life that if I defy what you believe fate has planned for me, then I will change what you believe fate has planned for you and remove the caged bird seal and ban its practice." Hinata gave her oath.
Neji looked on in disbelief, not sure if Hinata was sure of what she had just declared.
Looking at his cousin, he swore himself an oath; as long as she held true to her words, and indeed her dream, he would support her. He would change what he had become and live his life, no longer blaming fate for something if he could strive to change it.
"The winner of the first match; Hinata Hyuuga!" Genma announced. In recognition of the victory, Hinata bowed to the Kage stand before turning to her father and bowing to him.
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Chapter End
Well, back to normal. I got all the info that I needed from the reviews from last chapter, so there really isn't a need to review this time, unless there is some aspect that you didn't like and wanna let me know.
Translations
Ryo kenchigai no jutsu – False footing jutsu
Doton: yomi numa – Earth release: dark swap
Senai jyashu –Sublime snake hand